When my fellow food blogger Mine informed me about the 17th IMBB, I started to think what I can cook up with tea. Since it is very hot here, I was not (and still am not) in the mood to even light up the stove; I had to come up with something that does not require any heating. In fact I thought: cooler the better.

Everybody that I know of drinks tea, one type or another. I didn’t even touch anything but some herbal teas when I was growing up. But now I certainly drink all sorts of tea every single day, bake tea cake every once in a while and my sun-tea is sought for in various occasions, but this is the extend of my tea usage in the kitchen (and in the house, for that matter.)

Last week in the office I was drinking using a “Peach Green Tea” bag and a thought occured to me… Next day I brewed tea under the sun. This is my preferred way if we were to drink it cold. I used regular flavored tea, as I wanted to incorporate the flavors by adding on to it. Before putting into fridge, added mint and lemon as usual.

Couple days later (not that I needed that much time for it to cool down, but mostly because I was lazy and busy) I mashed the peaches that were given by our lovely neighbour using our handy handblender; to my surprise it came out to be exactly 1 cup! This amount was used to set the basis of my recipe as I had nearly endless supply of the other ingredients in mind.

Next, I added 2 cups of home made ice tea (well, cold actually, but you know what I mean), juice of a whole lemon (which came out to be 1/4 cup) and 1/3 cup sugar. Stirred these for a while to make sure sugar dissolved thoroughly. Was not sweet enough, and there went another 1/3 cup sugar into the mix. While mixing these together the mint growing in the kitchen windowsill was looking right at me. Tea and mint go together so well that I could not resist putting some in even though I knew the color of the finished product will lose its vibrant peach color. Oh, well.

Chopped up 10 fresh mint leaves very finely and added to the mix. Last but definitely not least: the vodka. You can make up your own reasons to add vodka, mine was simple: I needed something to keep the mix from being a solid ice. 1/4 cup was enough for me. Sure enough you can try other drinks that you think might go with this. Maybe limoncello?

Covered it with saran, and put into fridge to cool (for couple of hours) before putting down in the freezer (yep, our freezer is in the lower section.) Next morning I mixed it using a fork, and made a slush and back to freezer. Couple hours later, did it again. Scooped it out to serve in wine glasses and you see how it looks…

Its texture is somewhere between snowcone and sorbet. The ice crystals look really nice, not to mention the taste. Mint and peach totally have dominant flavor, but you get a hint of the tea, as well. This is what we needed in this summer heat; grab a spoon and dive in.

With my sincere apologies to Italians, I think this deserves to be called a “peach tea granita”!

Bon Apetit.

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To sum it up; here is my ingredients list:

Peach Tea Granita:

• 1 cup of mashed peaches
• 2 cups of cold tea, brewed under the sun, cooled with mint and lemon
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 10 mint leaves
• 1/4 cup vodka

First time I had the Eggs Benedict I loved it so much that I had to make a note of its name — as it was the first time I heard of it — and look for its recipe as soon as I came home. When the lady who was going to serve these learned that I do not eat bacon, which I assume what is put on the muffins usually, she suggested making with smoked salmon. Since then I also had it with shrimp, but it is not as good. The best recipe I found so far is out of the “New Cook Book” of the “Better Homes and Gardens” which I think is an essential cookbook for every household.

To read the history of this recipe, please visit http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/EggBenedictHistory.htm.
It is quite a treat to have these for special breakfasts. Even though the recipe seems quite involved, it does not take too much time to put them together; just be ready to move fast!

Unfortunately I can not make this as often as I would have liked to; my conscious stops me. With the egg quantity inside, I am sure our cholesterol level goes up a bit. With that in mind, let’s cut it short and get to the recipe:

What you need:
(for 2 people)

1. 2 eggs
2. 1 recipe Hollandaise Sauce (recipe follows)
3. 2 English muffins
4. 2 - 4 slices of smoked salmon
5. paprika, parsely springs to decorate

How it is made:

1. Lightly grease a small pan, put water in it and bring to boil. Crack one of the eggs into a measuring bowl and carefuly slide the egg into the boiling water making sure not to break it
2. Add the other egg to the pot in the same fashion
3. Simmer the eggs for 3 - 5 mins (this will set the whites and yolks will be thickened.) Remove them from water using a slotted spoon and place them in warm water until you prepare the sauce
4. Toast the muffins. Place the eggs, smoked salmon and Hollandaise sauce and top them off with the other half of the muffin. Sprinkle some paprika and serve with parsely sprigs

I made both “muffin + eggs + sauce + salmon + muffin” and “muffin + salmon + eggs + sauce + muffin” variations. Makes no difference, all taste good!

Hollandaise Sauce:
This sauce can also be served with cooked vegetables, poultry and fish.

1. 1/2 cup butter
2. 3 beaten egg yolks
3. 1 Tbs water
4. 1 Tbs lemon juice
5. dash of salt and pepper

Steps:

1. Cut the butter into 3 and bring it to room temperature
2. In the top of the double boiler, combine egg yolks, water, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Add a piece of butter and place over the boiling water (making sure the top does not touch the boiling water), cook, stirring rapidly using a whisk until butter melts. Sauce will thicken a bit. Add the remaininb butter, one piece at a time, and whisk as before. Thicken the sauce by cooking 2 more minutes and remove from heat. If you think sauce is too thick, add 1 - 2 Tbs of hot water and whisk again

Bon Apetit!